Unlock Your Heart
by ImaginaryGirlxx
Summary: Emma and Snow White bond whilst in the Enchanted Forest, where Snow learns more about her daughter's difficult past. Warning: Mentions of physical and sexual abuse, not too explicit.
1. Unlock Your Heart

**Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT, unfortunately, but Eddy and Adam do an AMAZING job, don't they? :)**

**A/N: The title is a line from the song 'Anywhere' by Evanescence. I just thought the line fitted perfectly. This is my first fic for OUAT so I would love to know what you think :) Hope you like it!**

They had been walking through the forest for hours, trying to put as much distance between themselves and Hook as possible. Emma could feel her whole body screaming at her to stop and rest. She was exhausted. The dull ache of a stitch was attacking her side and the muscles in her legs felt like they would give up at any moment and she would collapse in a heap on the woodland floor. Not to mention the fact that her entire torso was throbbing from being held by a giant. In hindsight, she should have kept Hook detained up there for longer, but she knew that 10 hours should give them enough of a head start. Any longer and she would have felt that she was pushing the boundaries of protection and self-preservation and moving more towards outright cruelty.

Emma could tell that she was not the only one who was exhausted. Aurora seemed to look as if she was in about as much pain as Emma. Mulan was always a few paces ahead, seemingly in a lot better shape than the rest of the group. What surprised the blonde woman most was how well Mary Margaret, or... Snow... seemed to be coping with the trek. Emma liked to pride herself in the fact that she kept in good health and loved going out for a run when she was stressed and needed to clear her head. Mary, on the other hand, spent a lot of her time at work or at home; marking papers, doing housework or volunteering at the hospital. Yet she was the one that seemed to be able to cope with the physical pressures of living here in the forest. She figured it was adrenaline or just her body adjusting faster as a result of all her years spent here previously, doing exactly this.

Snow seemed to notice that Emma and Aurora were struggling to keep up with the other two women and asked Mulan if they could take a break. Reluctantly, the warrior agreed, stating that she was sure there was a river not far from them and that they could rest there for a while and get a drink.

"Thanks for that." Emma whispered to Snow though laboured breaths as the brunette slowed her pace to fall in step with her daughter.

"Not used to this, I'm guessing." She teased. Emma pouted slightly, not wanting her mother to think of her as weak. "It's ok to admit that you're struggling, Emma. No one here's going to judge you for it."

"I'll be ok once I have a little rest." She panted. "How are you so good at this?"

"My body's used to it, I guess. I haven't aged. It also explains how I can still shoot an arrow perfectly after 28 years."

Emma pondered this for a moment. She figured it made sense, but then again she couldn't be sure. She was still trying to wrap her head around the whole Evil Queen/curse thing. What sane person would believe her if she went up to them and told them that fairytales are real and that her parents are Snow White and Prince Charming? No one, that's who.

"The river's just up here." Mulan said over her shoulder. She was slightly annoyed that everyone was behind her but at least they were still in sight. She knew she needed to protect the two princesses and the girl in strange clothes from another world but they were not making it easy for her when they wanted to stop and rest every five minutes. Mulan knew that she shouldn't complain though. She loved the adventure and the fight. It was certainly better than sitting back and doing nothing.

Once they had finished having a drink from the refreshing waters of the river, Snow and Emma found themselves sat against the trunk of a large tree.

"How are you feeling?" Snow asked her daughter after a few moments of silence.

"I'm fine." Emma replied. Snow gave her a look that clearly showed that she didn't believe her. "Just a little tired."

"Did you ever wonder where you got your 'superpower' from?" She smiled. Emma shook her head, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible. She knew where this was going. Mary Margaret could always see right through her when she was hiding something, and Snow was even better at it. She sighed. "So, are you going to tell me how you're really feeling?"

Emma wrapped her arms tighter around herself.

"I'm just tired. We've been walking for hours and my body is exhausted." She said, hoping that it was enough to satisfy her mother's worry.

Snow noticed her daughter holding her stomach.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I'm sure Mulan and I can catch something for us to eat."

"It's nothing." Emma said shortly.

"What's nothing?" Snow questioned. Emma felt her cheeks redden slightly and started trying to look anywhere but at the woman in front of her. "Emma?"

The blonde woman hugged her stomach even more, shifting in position and bringing her knees up to her chest.

"Let me see." The brunette said, moving closer to her daughter. "Lift up your top."

Reluctantly, Emma did as she was told. She heard Snow gasp and looked down to see for herself the damage that the giant had done for the first time. Her torso was badly bruised and she anticipated a couple of broken ribs, but couldn't be certain. She didn't want to check though, the thought alone of touching it was painful.

"What happened?"

"The giant had a bit of a temper." She stated, trying to act nonchalant about it so as not to worry her mother.

"A _bit_ of a temper?" Snow repeated. "Emma, why didn't you say anything?"

"There's nothing anyone could have done about it and, besides, I've had worse." She said, but immediately regretted it when she saw Snow's eyes widen and the look of horror on her face.

"What do you mean you've had worse?" She asked, slowly.

"Nothing." Emma replied. "Forget I said anything."

"I'm your mother! I cannot forget about something like that. If someone's hurt you, I want to know about it. They are going to regret laying a hand on you." Snow said, angrily. Emma flinched slightly at the tone of her voice but Snow didn't seem to notice.

"Just leave it, please. It's in the past. It doesn't matter anymore."

Emma knew what she was doing. She was putting her walls up. Stopping Snow from getting close to her and seeing the real Emma Swan. She didn't want that. She'd just found her mother and couldn't stand it if she left her again. But she didn't want her to know the truth either. Snow wouldn't love her if she knew what a bad child she was. The things she'd done to deserve what her foster parents used to do to her.

She spent 28 years thinking that her parents didn't want her and, although she pretended that she was fine with it, it hurt her all the time: seeing parents with their children in the park or at the shops; seeing her own foster parents favour her other 'siblings' over her; never feeling good enough. Now she finally had a loving mother, she couldn't lose her. Not now.

"Emma, please, talk to me." Snow pleaded.

"There's nothing to say."

"What did you mean when you said you'd had worse?"

"I don't want to talk about this right now. Forget it." She said, standing up. "We need to get going before Hook catches us up."

Snow sighed. She had to agree with Emma, they did need to put as much distance between themselves and Hook as possible, but she couldn't help but worry about her daughter. First and foremost, she was concerned about her health and how much more strain her body could take in light of her recent injuries. She made a conscious effort to walk slower, hoping that Emma would fall in line with her step. After about a minute of trying to keep away from her, Emma found that she had to slow down and began walking alongside her mother.

Secondly, she was worried about what Emma had said to her about having worse injuries. As much as she hoped they were just caused by accidents, she was not as naïve as Mary Margaret was. She knew that something terrible had gone on in her daughters past and that, knowing Emma, it would take a lot of pushing to get her to open up about it. She also knew her daughter well enough to know that the more she did push, the more Emma would close herself off and add another layer to the already almost impenetrable walls around her heart.

Realising that interrogating her daughter may not have been the best way to get answers, Snow decided to approach the subject from a different angle.

"Do you remember what I told you in the nursery? The plans I had for you." She looked to her left to find her daughter's eyes on her, watching her closely. "I wanted to watch you take your first steps. I wanted to hear your first word. I missed out on all that and put your life first."

"You wanted to give me my best chance, I know."

"It was more than that. I wanted you to be happy. I couldn't subject you to Regina's curse. She took away our happy endings but I couldn't let her take away yours. You were so young, just hours old, and so innocent. You didn't need to suffer for my mistakes."

"Your mistakes?"

Now it was Snow's turn to feel uncomfortable. She never forgave herself for what she did to Regina and Daniel and she didn't want Emma to think of her any differently because of it, but she knew she had to tell her. She had to be honest with her if she wanted their newfound relationship as mother and daughter to work. Plus if she opened up, there would be a better chance that Emma would as well.

She took a deep breath and began to tell the story of how Cora ripped out Daniel's heart because of what she told her. It was difficult, but in a way felt good to finally tell someone what happened. She'd never even told Charming.

Emma listened patiently as her mother described the events that happened during her childhood. She'd had no idea what Snow had been through and the guilt that she had carried around with her from such a young age.

Once she had finished her story, the pair remained silent for a few moments, each of them trying to process their own thoughts.

After a while, Emma spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Mare... Snow." She corrected herself. "You do know that wasn't your fault, don't you?"

"Regina is a manipulative bitch. Her mother is just as bad." She stated. "For years I blamed myself for Daniel's death but now I've seen how evil they both can be, I know I wasn't to blame."

"We all have our regrets." Emma said simply, looking away from her mother and back to the path in front of them. Snow reached out and gently squeezed Emma's hand, silently reassuring her and letting her know that she was there for her, when she finally felt that she could open up.

The pair continued on in silence, picking up the pace slightly in an attempt to keep up with Mulan and Aurora.

After a few more minutes of walking, Snow heard Emma gasp in pain. Looking over, she saw her daughter clutching her torso again, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Emma, stop." Snow commands, knowing her daughter well enough to know that she would never admit defeat against her injuries unless she was forced to. She definitely had her mother's strong will.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"So you've told me. I just think you should take a little rest."

"We need to keep going." Emma said, pushing through the pain to keep walking. Snow grabbed her arm to stop her.

"No, we need to look after your injuries."

"But Hook..."

"Doesn't matter. Your health is more important to me right now. That is my priority, and it should be yours too."

Emma pulled her arm out of her mother's grasp. Sighing in defeat, she stopped and rested against a nearby tree. Snow called out to the women in front of her, asking them to stop for a moment. She knew Mulan wouldn't be happy about them having to stop again but at this point in time she couldn't care less. Her daughter needed her help and she would be damned if she didn't try her best to make her feel better.

After a few minutes of Snow fussing about her injuries, Emma was finally able to convince her that there was nothing she could do for her but let her rest. The sun was already setting so the four women agreed to set up camp for the night and continue their journey when there was more light. Mulan and Snow went off to find food, leaving Emma and Aurora to look after the campsite.

Aurora fell asleep almost as soon as the other two women had left, living up to her nickname of 'Sleeping Beauty', Emma figured. This gave the blonde woman plenty of time to think before her mother and the warrior got back.

It didn't take long before Emma had drifted off to sleep as well, but her slumber was nowhere near as peaceful and restful as she had hoped.

_Emma was in her room doing homework when she heard the front door slam. The eight year old jumped slightly in her chair at the noise but thought nothing of it as she went back to answering the maths questions on the sheet in front of her._

_She could hear her foster parents arguing downstairs. They were yelling about money. They were always yelling about money. She was old enough to understand that they only kept her around for the monthly check. They weren't the sort of parents who would take her on nice trips to the zoo or to theme parks. In fact, they hardly acknowledged her existence half of the time, with the exception of mealtimes and when she had done something wrong._

_She heard the front door slam again and got up to look out the window and see which one of her foster parents had left. Alison, her foster mother, was getting in to her car. She slammed the door shut again; Emma was starting to see a pattern there, and drove off down the street. The young girl knew that she was off to the pub to get drunk, which she also knew would lead to more arguments. She'd only lived with this family for 3 months but knew how their arguments went. It was becoming so predictable, which is why she was terrified of what was about to happen next._

_Once his wife had left, Eric, her foster dad, stormed up the stairs and straight in to Emma's room._

"_What are you doing?" He asked her gently._

"_Homework." The young girl replied quietly._

_Eric walked up behind Emma and placed a strong hand on her shoulder. Emma's whole body stiffened in fear at his touch. She sat up straighter, keeping her eyes on the worksheet on her desk because she was too scared to look at her foster dad._

"_This looks boring. Come and sit with me." He said, leading her to her bed._

_Emma did as she was told, too scared to do anything else._

"_Do you know why your mother and I were arguing?"_

_Emma shook her head. Eavesdropping was bad. She'd learnt that the hard way._

"_How would you feel about having a new brother or sister?"_

_The young girl shrugged. She preferred her own company, so being the only child in the house didn't bother her. Plus, she didn't want other kids to have to deal with Eric on a bad day. No one deserved that._

"_I think it would be nice for you to have a friend around here."_

"_You don't let me have friends round though." She stated._

_Emma wasn't quite sure what she did but whatever it was, she was obviously wrong. Eric stood up and slapped the young girl across the face. The force was enough to send her small frame flying across the bed, causing her to bang her head against the wall behind her. A small whimper escaped her mouth involuntarily. Emma hated to be seen as weak and she knew Eric didn't like it when she cried. She had to force herself to remain strong._

_The older man left the room and went to the kitchen to get himself a drink of whiskey._

_Emma slowly brought her hand up to her cheek and touched the tender area. She flinched slightly at the unpleasant sensation and looked down to see blood on her hand. Great, she thought. She knew she wouldn't be able to go to school the next day. Her foster parents were very careful like that. They would call her in sick so as not to get her taken away, and with her the money that they got for 'looking after her'._

_A few minutes later, Eric came back upstairs and went straight back into Emma's room. The blonde girl looked away as he entered, fearing what would happen if he saw the tears in her eyes. _

_When he didn't come any closer to her, Emma plucked up the courage to look up at him. What she saw both confused and scared her. Her foster dad had taken off his jeans and left them on her bedroom floor and was climbing onto her bed. He put his hand on her thigh and moved the fabric of her dress up to around her stomach._

"_Don't tell your mother about this, Emma. She won't like you." He said to her, his voice eerily calm. Emma was terrified. He had never done this before and she had no idea what was happening. Nothing could have prepared her for the pain she felt next. Tears started to form again in her eyes and she knew that she would be helpless to stop him. There was nothing she could do but turn her head away from him and pretend that it wasn't happening._

_The young girl didn't move until he had left the room. He picked up his jeans and went downstairs as if nothing had happened, but not before promising that if she ever told anyone what had happened he would kill her._

Emma woke up, sweating and terrified, to her mother holding her. Snow whispered soothing words in an attempt to calm the young woman down.

When she saw that her daughter was upset, she sent Mulan and Aurora to tend to the meat that they were cooking, leaving her alone with Emma. She knew that the blonde woman would be embarrassed enough about having a nightmare and wanted her to feel comfortable enough to talk about it if she wanted to.

Snow did nothing but hold her daughter, stroking her hair, until she was finally able to calm down. Emma's breathing slowly began to even out and her thoughts started to become clearer and more rational. She knew, realistically, that it was just a nightmare. Eric couldn't hurt her any more. She was older, stronger, and wiser. She knew what he did was wrong and hated him for it but she had moved on. Or, at least, she thought she had.

Turning round to face her mother, Emma whispered a quiet apology.

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It was a nightmare, Emma. It's not something you can control. You're safe now, that's what matters."

"You shouldn't have had to see me like that. I'm not a child anymore."

"But you are still my daughter and I'm still your mother. It's my job to look after you. It's the least I could do after not being able to be there for you for the past 28 years." Snow said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Snow felt Emma tense in her arms slightly. The young woman who was always so strong and independent looked almost the complete opposite at the thought of having to tell someone her darkest secret, one that she'd never told anyone for the past 20 years.

Somehow, Emma managed to put on a mask and shake her head, telling Snow that she was fine and that it was just a bad dream. Snow wasn't blind though, she could tell that her daughter was struggling to keep herself together and felt helpless to stop whatever was upsetting her.

The conversation was dropped when Aurora announced that their food was ready. Snow, Mulan and Aurora spent their time talking about what had happened in the Enchanted Forest since Snow was last there. It was the first time she'd had a chance to ask. It pained her heart to know how much their land suffered, especially after the hope of a happily ever after when she and Charming married. Snow shared stories of the residents of Storybrooke, where she learned that Aurora had been friends with Kathryn briefly during their childhoods. Emma, however, sat in silence. As much as she tried not to think about her nightmare and the flood of bad memories that it brought with it to her conscious mind, she couldn't push the terrible thoughts and feelings away.

After dinner, Snow insisted on checking Emma's injuries. She'd put a lot of strain on her body and Snow wanted to make sure that it hadn't caused any greater damage.

Emma tried to protest but her attempts were futile. She figured eventually that it would be easier to indulge her mother now than have her constantly worrying about her until she could prove that she wasn't getting any worse.

Snow was relieved to see that her daughter's injuries had not got worse as a result of walking through the forest all day, but she still insisted that they rested. Besides, they needed their energy if they were to make as much progress tomorrow as they had today.

Once the other two women had finished eating, Emma volunteered herself to take the first watch. She'd already been asleep and, if she was honest, was scared that she would have another nightmare.

Although she'd never admit it, Emma was somewhat happy that Snow decided to stay awake with her.

"Emma, you didn't need to volunteer yourself for this." Snow said, once the other two women were asleep. "You're hurt. You need your rest."

"I'm not that tired now. I guess all I needed was a nap." Emma lied. Snow could tell that she wasn't giving her the real reason but was scared that if she pushed her any further Emma would close up and she would get nowhere.

To her surprise, Emma stood up and walked over to sit next to her mother. There was something about being so close to the woman that she found comforting. She'd tried not to do it, feeling that it was childish, but after her nightmare all she wanted to do was be close to Snow, where she felt safe.

"You're scared of going back to sleep, aren't you?" Snow asked, cautiously. Emma swallowed her pride and nodded. She hated being seen as weak but she knew that whatever answer she gave would tell Snow the truth. She'd already made up her mind about it and she was right, what was the point in hiding it? "It's ok to be scared, you know."

Emma looked away, not wanting to face her mother.

"Being scared is a weakness." She whispered. "That's what my foster dad used to tell me."

"Emma, you're allowed to be scared. It doesn't make you weak. What makes you weak is giving in to that fear which, I know for a fact, you don't do. You will carry on until you literally can't go any further, despite any fears you have. That is as far from weakness as you can get." Snow said, putting her hand gently on Emma's cheek and turning her head so that she was facing her again. That was when she registered what Emma said. Why did her foster dad try to convince her that being scared is a weakness? "Emma..." She said, slowly. "What did you have to be scared of?"

The blonde woman closed her eyes, not wanting to see the look of concern on her mother's face. Inwardly, she cursed at herself for being so stupid and at Snow for being so damn observant.

"Let's just say he wasn't the nicest of the foster parents I had." She stated, opening her eyes to see the worried face of her mother staring at her.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Snow asked, dreading her daughter's response.

Emma shook her head.

"Can't we do this some other time? Maybe, never?" She suggested. She knew it would be pushing her luck but she couldn't face talking about it right now.

Snow sighed. She had hoped that her daughter would tell her something; give her some indication of what happened. Without it, her mind instantly started imagining the worst possible scenarios that could have happened, each one more obscure and terrible than the last. She hated herself for putting Emma in a position where she was caused so much pain. Snow would have given anything to go with her daughter and protect her from that.

"Emma, I know this is hard but you need to talk about this. You won't sleep because you're afraid of having another nightmare. Believe me; I know what I'm talking about. These nightmares won't go away until you face up to them."

"I just... I can't. I'm sorry."

"Why not?"

"Because he said... he said if I told someone he would kill me. I know realistically he can't, we're in a completely different world, for heaven's sake, but when someone tells that to an eight year old it doesn't go away. It sticks with you, it's an irrational fear and I know that but..."

"But you can't help but worry that he was telling the truth." Snow finished. "Do you know how many times people threaten to kill you if you go against the Queen?" She asked. Emma shook her head. "Too many for me to count. I'm still alive, aren't I? My point is that people almost never mean those words. They say them because people believe them and are too scared to call their bluff for fear of ending up dead."

"What if he is one of those few people that actually meant it?"

"Then either me or your father would kill him before he even got anywhere near you." Snow smirked. Emma chuckled slightly, unaware of how serious her mother was being. "There is nothing I wouldn't do for you, Emma. I love you."

Emma looked away again at those words. No one had ever said them to her before and meant it. They had only ever been said to get something from her or to earn her trust, before ripping out her vulnerable heart and leaving her. She couldn't let that happen with Snow. She didn't want her to leave just like everyone else did who had ever said that they loved her.

"Don't say it, please. Don't say those words if you don't mean them."

"Of course I mean them, Emma. I'm your mother. I've loved you from the moment I found out I was pregnant and I've never stopped loving you since then."

"But you don't know me. I'm not who you think I am."

"You're my daughter. You're Henry's mother. You're guarded and impulsive but you will fiercely protect those you care about and never give up on them." Snow said, knowing that she could continue the list with everything she'd learnt about her daughter in the year that she'd known her. She knew, however, that she was starting to make Emma feel uncomfortable so she stopped there, with a slightly more light-hearted comment. "And you're the one person in town who shares my love for cinnamon with my hot chocolate." She smiled.

"Everyone who has ever said they loved me has left me and every time I've ended up getting hurt because of it." Emma admitted.

"I'm never going to leave you." Snow said. Emma search for a sign that she was lying, because at least then she would be prepared for when she did leave, but found nothing. Snow was telling the truth and Emma didn't know how to deal with that. "Both Regina and her mother believe that love is weakness." She continued. "But that's because they think it holds you back. If there's one thing we both know for sure it's that love is the furthest thing from weakness. Love is what is motivating us to get home, to not give up until we see Henry and David again. That same feeling is what is motivating me to protect you. Without it we wouldn't have got this far. You wouldn't have been able to break the curse and save us all. Without true love I would still be stuck under that sleeping curse. Love is strength, Emma, and I love you."

Emma took a breath and said the one thing that she'd wanted to tell Snow for a while but never felt able to until now.

"I love you too, mom."

Snow's face broke into the biggest smile that she had ever seen. She did nothing to stop the tears from flowing freely down her face as she hugged Emma, trying to be careful of her injuries. Emma stiffened slightly in surprise before relaxing into Snow's arms.

The two women didn't know how long they stayed in that position, lost in their own thoughts. They had finally found each other and, for the first time since the curse broke, it felt real. They were together again and nothing could tear them apart. It was the strength of their bond that was finally able to start breaking down the walls around Emma's heart; letting in the one person who she was now certain would never hurt her.

She didn't know why, but she found herself suddenly wanting to open up to Snow. Finally, she was able to face what had happened. She knew it wouldn't be easy to talk about, nor would it be easy for Snow to hear, but she felt she owed her mother an explanation now that they had finally reached this new stage in their relationship.

"It wasn't a nightmare." She started. Snow looked up, straight into her daughter's eyes. "It was a memory. A memory of something that happened when I was a child."

Emma could clearly see the concern on her mother's face, making her doubt what she was about to do. She wasn't sure she was ready for her reaction, but she'd started now and she knew if she didn't keep going she'd never say anything.

As Emma retold the story of her nightmare she watched as Snow's face went from concern to fear to anger. She had to give her credit though; she let Emma tell the story without interruption. It felt good to finally be able to get it off her chest. What worried the blonde woman was how long her mother stayed quiet after she had finished.

"Are you ok?" She asked Snow, when she'd been silent for more than a couple of minutes. She was starting to get nervous about her response. Had she done the wrong thing by telling her? Was she angry at Emma for being so stupid? Was she going to disown her? Tell her she was disgusting and pathetic and that she deserved everything that happened to her?

To her surprise, Snow's eyes softened when she saw the panic on her daughter's face.

"It wasn't your fault, Emma. You know that, right?" She asked cautiously.

Guiltily, Emma looked away.

That was all it took for Snow's anger to resurface.

"That bastard!" She yelled. "How dare he do that to you? And worse, make you think it was your fault!" The tone of her voice made Emma flinch slightly. An angry Snow White was definitely not someone she wanted to be on the bad side of. "Please tell me you got out of that house after that." She said, through gritted teeth.

Emma shook her head.

"Did he..." She started, but couldn't finish the sentence.

"I stayed there for another eight months." Emma said, hoping that it was enough of a response.

"How many times?" She asked. Emma didn't answer. "Emma. How. Many. Times?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly.

"How dare he hurt my baby! I'm going to kill him!"

"Snow..."

"What?" She snapped. This time Snow didn't miss the look of fear that flashed across Emma's face as she visibly flinched away at the tone of her voice. "Oh my God, Emma I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok. You didn't" Emma replied. The two women sat in silence for a while before Snow spoke up.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone, Emma. If I had the choice I would have gone through the wardrobe with you in a heartbeat."

"Then why didn't you?" Emma snapped, shocking Snow with her sudden change in behaviour.

"What do you mean?"

"The wardrobe took two! You sent me through with some kid who had no idea how to look after a newborn baby."

"The wardrobe took two?" Snow asked.

"You didn't know?"

"Do you really think I would have passed up on the opportunity to go with you? To protect you? To let you grow up with a mother instead of on your own?"

"You really didn't know. You wanted to come with me?" Emma questioned, more as clarification now as she knew the answer.

"Of course I did. I have always wanted to be a mother to you. I would never have stayed if I'd have known I could go with you. I love you, Emma. I know you are finding that hard to believe still but I really do love you, with all my heart."

Emma smiled slightly as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"You need to get some sleep. It's been an exhausting day, physically and emotionally." Snow said.

"I can't..." She started to protest before her mother cut her off.

"Yes you can. I'll stay with you. I won't let anything bad happen to you and will still be here when you wake up. Then tomorrow we can find a way to get back home to Henry and your father." Snow smiled at the thought of seeing David again and finally being able to have a proper family with her husband, her daughter and her grandson. She noticed Emma's breathing had evened out and the young woman had fallen asleep in her arms.

"I love you." She whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I will always love you."


	2. Drop Your Guard

**Because of the lovely response I had to my last chapter I've decided to post another, focussing on David's relationships with Emma and Snow when they get back from the Enchanted Forest. I've been trying to write this for a while but I've had a load of essays so I've only just finished it. It's quite emotional and a lot happens but I hope you like it :) I'd love to know what you think.**

Charming was jealous. He knew he shouldn't be but ever since the return of his wife and daughter he was finding it difficult to establish a relationship with Emma. The time that they spent in the Enchanted Forest had brought mother and daughter closer together and, as much as he was happy for Snow now that Emma had finally let her in, he was slightly hurt that she didn't feel she could open up to him, her own father.

He was happy that over the time they had been away, he had been given time to bond with his grandson. He'd always thought Henry was a sweet kid. Despite growing up as the Mayor's son and being able to have pretty much anything he wanted, he wasn't spoilt. The truth, Charming figured, was that what he wanted more than anything was to be with Emma, his real mother and his real family. He wanted the unconditional love that his mother and grandparents could provide. True love. This is what made the young boy so special.

At this moment, Charming was sitting at the table with his family eating dinner. Snow and Emma had been back for a week, during which time the two women had been spending most days at home or visiting friends. Snow was happy to finally be able to catch up with Red after 28 years and Emma was glad to be able to spend time with her son, who had been staying at their house since their return.

The prince observed his daughter and grandson as they fought over the last chocolate cupcake. Noticing that his wife was watching them too, he reached over and placed his hand over hears. A small smile graced both of their faces as they realised how lucky they were to have their family together again. Eventually, Emma gave in to her son, who was pulling his best 'puppy dog eye' face which could melt even Regina's cold heart (well… almost). David knew from experience how difficult it was not to give the young boy anything he asked for when he looked at you with those big eyes.

Once dinner was finished, Charming saw an opportunity to talk to Emma in private and suggested that the two of them washed the dishes from their meal, stating that Snow had cooked it and Henry had homework to complete.

Neither of them said anything for a couple of minutes as they set about clearing off the table.

"Are you sure you're alright to come back to work tomorrow, Emma?" He asked eventually.

"Yeah. I've been back over a week now. I just want things to get back to normal." Emma stated. "Although I don't know how 'normal' we could be if I'm the same age as my parents."

Charming laughed. "Well we never really were one for 'normal', even back home."

"Yeah I read the story of how you and Snow met in Henry's book. It's a little different from the one I heard as a child." Emma smiled, remembering a time in kindergarten when their teacher played them the Disney video of Snow White. It was the first time she had seen the film and remembered wishing her foster parents were like them. She had wished that they would stop fighting and get along like people in true love should do.

"Snow mentioned how much she hated the Disney version." Charming smiled. "Although it seems they had Regina pretty much spot on."

"Give her a chance to change. Henry seems to think she's really trying." Emma said. She wasn't sure if the woman was capable of changing but was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for her son's sake.

"He's not around, you know. You don't have to defend her."

"She saved my life. And Snow's."

"If it wasn't for her your lives wouldn't have needed saving in the first place." The prince replied.

Emma could tell that arguing with her father at this point would get her nowhere. Normally, she wouldn't have backed down so easily but, if she was being totally honest with herself, she wasn't sure even she believed what she was saying. The pair fell back into a slightly uncomfortable silence as they carried on cleaning the mess that dinner had made in the kitchen.

Later that evening, Snow and Charming were talking in bed.

"How did you get Emma to open up to you?" Charming asked his wife.

"Honestly, it took a while. She doesn't trust easily." She replied.

"So I've noticed."

"What's bought this on?" Snow questioned.

"You two just seem so close and I guess I'm a bit jealous of her relationship with you. She just seems a bit awkward and uncertain around me."

"We've spent a lot of time together, both before and after the curse was broken, whereas she never really knew you before and has only been around you for about a week as your daughter. Don't forget that she was less than an hour old when she last saw you. She didn't get her memories back when the curse broke like the rest of us. This life is all she's known." Snow explained.

"I guess you're right." He reasoned.

"It's going to take time and I have a feeling you're going to have to do this on her terms. From what I gather she's never really had a father figure that she could trust." Snow said. She knew that her comment would concern David, but also knew her husband well enough to be sure that he would never ask her to betray Emma's confidence, and that she never would anyway. "Just take it slowly with her. You're spending tomorrow with her at the station, right?"

"Yeah."

"Take the time to get to know her. It will take a while for her to open up, but we both know that. Just don't get downhearted if she doesn't spill everything about herself straight away."

"I'm just worried that she'll never feel comfortable around me and will never feel like she's my daughter." He confessed.

He felt tears starting to form in his eyes at that thought. Normally he would try and push them back but alone with Snow he knew that he could be completely honest and emotionally vulnerable. He didn't have to put on a front and be the leader everyone needed right now and could let his guard down. Seeing this, Snow shifted in the bed and wrapped her arms around her husband. She found that she was also holding back tears at the sight of David being so upset at the thought of never connecting with his daughter.

Unaware that Emma had woken up and was sat at the top of the stairs, out of her parent's sight. She'd planned to go downstairs to get herself a drink of water, having woken up to a rather violent coughing fit, but after hearing the start of David' confession she'd stayed put. She hadn't wanted to disturb them but was also curious about what they were saying. After all, they were talking about her.

Wiping away his tears, Charming continued. "I mean, she never really liked me that much before the curse broke, did she?" Snow opened her mouth to protest but a look from her husband told her that there was little point. They both knew how Emma had felt about David messing Mary Margaret around and breaking her heart.

"She'll come around, just give her time." Snow said, reassuringly.

Emma felt her heart break a little hearing her father's concerns. She had no idea that he felt like that and was beginning to feel guilty about how distant she had been with him. With a vow to make an effort with him at work the next day, Emma decided to head back to her bed, forgetting all about the water. She didn't feel right to be eavesdropping any longer on her parents' conversation.

The next morning found Emma and Charming sitting at opposite ends of the desk in the Sheriff's station. Emma found it strange not to come in to find a passed-out Leroy in the cell behind her from another night's drinking, but figured with the curse being broken and fairy dust to mine for; he didn't feel the need to drink as much. Or at least she hoped so. She hated having to bring the man in every other night for his drinking habits.

Remembering the conversation that Emma had accidently overheard last night, the young woman decided to try and get to know her father a bit better. In time, she hoped that she felt strong enough to let him in, as she had done with Snow. So far all they'd really managed to engage in was small-talk. Emma figured that, despite his confessions to Snow last night, David was just as scared as she was to start a conversation.

She took a quiet breath and looked up from the report that she was currently reading about an unsolved case that she needed to be up to date with now that she was back at work, and asked her father something that she'd truthfully been wondering about for a while now.

"David, what were my grandparents like?"

The prince put down his pen and raised his eyes to meet his daughter's. The question had shocked him but he was pleased that she had asked.

"Well I never really knew my father. He died when I was very young." He said, before pausing as he saw his daughter's face fall at this news.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's ok Emma. You have the right to know about your family, especially when they are as messed up as ours." He replied with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. "He and my mother worked on a farm where they raised me. We didn't have that much money but they were happy and we never went hungry."

David stopped briefly, wondering how much of his past Emma knew from Henry's book. She'd never really mentioned it before so he couldn't be sure but he had seen her reading it when he walked past her room a couple of nights ago and the door was slightly open.

"Your grandmother was an amazing woman though." He said, continuing his story. "She raised me almost completely by herself whilst running the farm. She was kind and gentle and only wanted the best for me; and Snow when she met her. It truly broke my heart to have to leave her."

"Did she ever tell you about your brother?" The young woman asked.

"Not until Rumplestiltskin turned up and I was told I'd have to impersonate him and kill a dragon in order to save the kingdom." He laughed, thinking about how ridiculous it all sounded. He realised that Emma must've read the book if she knew about James.

"Yeah I know how getting news like that feels like." Emma replied, laughing along with her father about the crazy situations they'd been in throughout their lives.

"You must get your dragon-slaying skills from me then." David smiled.

"I'm sure Snow could take on a dragon if she had to. I mean, she killed an ogre right in front of me."

"A dragon's a little bit different though. And I'm pretty sure you killing Maleficent was just beginner's luck." He teased.

"And you killing that dragon was due to your years of training and practice, was it?" Emma smirked, knowing that she'd won.

"Touche."

It was then that it crossed Emma's mind how normal this all felt. Despite the insane circumstances that the pair were describing, she felt relaxed and happy to be able to laugh and joke with her father as if they were old friends. The young woman found herself hoping that this feeling would last, and could tell that David was feeling the same.

"I wish I was able to meet your mum." Emma mused once they had stopped laughing. "From what I've heard I owe her a 'thank you'."

"Why is that?" David asked.

"For letting Snow drink the water from Lake Nostos."

"She did what?" He said, his voice raised slightly in shock.

Emma realised what she'd just said. After reading about her parent's story she'd assumed that David knew what had happened that day.

"She let Snow drink the last of the water so that she could have children.

"Why would she do that? She was dying." David responded loudly, his voice close to shouting. "Why did Snow drink it? She should've given it to my mother, she needed it more!"

Emma was hurt as the realisation that her Charming would've rather had his mother alive than his daughter hit her. Standing up, she stormed out of the station and headed out to the castle where she and Henry used to meet to calm herself down. She didn't want to go home and have to face her family right now and found herself reverting back into her old habits of running away.

The rain and wind hit her tear-stained face as she thought back to what her father had said. He'd basically told her he would've given up having her as a child in order to save his mother's life. Emma knew that she was being selfish in thinking that she was worth more than her grandmother but couldn't help feeling hurt when someone else voiced that opinion. It had bought back the feelings of inadequacy that she had felt throughout her entire life, making her grateful that she was alone as she began to sob even harder.

Meanwhile, David had made his way back to their apartment in search of his wife. He found her sitting in front of the television watching something on the television with a mug of what he assumed was hot chocolate with cinnamon.

He sat down next to her and waited for his wife to turn and face him before he started to ask her about the events leading to his mother's death.

Snow could tell immediately that something was wrong by the pained expression on her husband's face. She reached out to one of his hands that sat on his lap and covered it with her own petite hand.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Snow just looked at him, confused. "Tell you about what?" She had no idea what he was talking about. To her knowledge the only thing she'd been keeping from her husband recently was her conversation with Emma in the Enchanted Forest. It couldn't possibly be about that, she thought, could it? "Is this about Eric?"

"Eric? Who's Eric?"

"No one, David." She said trying to calm him down. It obviously wasn't about that. Snow wracked her brains for what else she hadn't told her husband but nothing came to mind. They had always been honest with each other. They loved each other.

"Was he another one night stand?" He shouted.

Snow saw red.

"How dare you! I would never cheat on you, Charming. Do you really trust me that little?"

"Whale?"

"We were cursed. It didn't mean anything, you know that! Now are you going to tell me what this is really about?"

"Why didn't the water from Lake Nostos cure my mother?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

The guilt that flashed across Snow's face was impossible to miss.

"It wasn't my fault, David. She tried to convince me to take it but I wouldn't. I didn't want you to lose your mother as I had lost mine. She tricked me. She tricked both of us." Snow tried to explain. Charming motioned for her to continue. "She had Lancelot put the water in the chalice that I drank from when he performed the ceremony. I had no idea what she was planning, I swear."

David considered this. He knew his wife was telling the truth, she would never lie to him about this.

"What I don't understand," David started, "is why she thought you needed to drink it in the first place."

"King George, he..." Snow struggled to get the words out. David moved closer to her, seeing the tears forming in her eyes, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. He gave her a small, encouraging smile and Snow took a breath, ready to tell him what had happened. "He poisoned me." Charming gasped. "He didn't want us to have the pleasure of having children if he and his wife couldn't so he slipped a potion into my drink."

A look of realisation crossed Charming's face.

"So we wouldn't have had Emma? If my mother had taken the water we'd never have had our daughter."

Snow nodded, sadly.

"It was an impossible choice; one that I would have hated to make. Ruth wanted so much for you to have children that she gave up her life for Emma. She gave up her life for all of us." She started.

"Because if we'd never given birth to Emma we'd all be cursed forever." Charming concluded and Snow nodded. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. It wasn't your decision and it wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"It's ok, it's understandable that you were upset."

"Will you tell me who Eric is? You seemed panicked when you thought this was about him."

"It's not for me to tell you, sorry. I'm sure Emma will tell you when she's ready."

"Is he Henry's father?" David asked.

"No he's not. Thank heaven for small mercies." Snow sighed, her blood boiling just thinking about the man who hurt her daughter.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll have to talk to Emma about it, love. I'm sorry."

At this David remembered what had happened back at the station before he went home.

"Is she here?"

"No she'd not been back, why? What happened?"

"She was a bit upset when she left." He replied, dropping his gaze so as not to see the worried expression on his wife's face.

"Go and find her." She demanded.

"I'm sure she'd rather talk to you." David started, but was cut off by the glare that Snow was giving him. He knew her well enough not to argue when she was like this, especially when it came to their daughter. Sighing, he put on his jacket and braced himself for the cold weather outside.

Charming had no idea where to start looking for Emma, other than the fact that she'd probably take herself somewhere secluded. Seeing her car still parked outside the station as he walked, he knew that she wouldn't have gone far. This meant that she'd stayed in Storybrooke, for which he was very thankful.

As he walked he narrowed down the possible places that she could be. He figured his best bets would be the forest or along the coast. Deciding to head to the coast first, as it was by far the easier option, he set off in that direction, hoping that his daughter was alright.

After what felt like hours of searching, Charming breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his daughter sitting on a small wooden castle that was used as a kid's playground. Her blonde hair whipped violently around her face in the cold wind and as he approached he could see her body shivering against the icy conditions.

Once he reached the castle he climbed up onto the level that Emma was sitting on and coughed to alert her of his presence. She turned around to face him and gave him a weak smile as a greeting, before turning back around to face the clock tower. She had been staring at the face of the clock since she had been sitting there, yet still had no idea how long it had been. She couldn't remember paying any attention to the time as it passed.

David sat down next to his daughter and shrugged off his jacket, wrapping it gently around her shoulders. It fell loosely over her petite frame but he knew that she would be grateful for the extra warmth that it provided.

The pair sat in silence for a while and the wind and rain slowly started to die down. David noticed the rays of the sun from behind the buildings of Storybrooke and the rainbow that had formed over the small town, wondering for a moment if Emma had noticed it too.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, Emma." David started, finally having plucked up the courage to say something. He was a great leader in every way but the one thing he struggled with was having difficult conversations. "I didn't realise what I'd said. I had no idea that Snow had been poisoned. I've always wanted a child, I'm sorry if what I said made you feel like I didn't. I promise I'm telling you the truth. If I'd have known what really happened back then..." He paused, trying to think of how to make Emma understand what he was thinking. "Well... what I'm trying to say is I definitely don't regret having you as a daughter. This family is the best thing that has ever happened to me, I hope you know that."

Emma looked up to meet her father's eyes and she could see that he was telling the truth.

"Do you really mean that?" She asked.

"Of course I do. I really had no idea what happened, but I'm glad now that it did."

"I believe you."Emma replied. She paused and the pair fell silent for a couple of minutes before the young woman smirked. "And honestly, liars have better material."

Charming laughed as he remembered what his daughter was talking about and realised how much everything had changed for the better since then. He was glad that she was still able to joke with him, after all the times that he felt he had hurt her or let her down.

"We should head back to home." Emma said after a while. "Here, take your jacket."

"No, you keep it. You'll be freezing otherwise." David replied as he pushed himself up off of the castle and landed on the sand below it. Emma smiled and wrapped it tighter around herself.

"Thanks."

"It's no problem." He said as they started walking home. After a while, he spoke up again. "Emma?" He asked. She made a noise to show that she'd heard him. "Who is Eric?"

Charming saw his daughter freeze for a second and stop in her tracked, a look of fear across her face. She coughed in an attempt to cover up her reaction and give herself a chance to regain her composure. The look on her father's face, however, told her that he wasn't fooled.

"How do you know about him?" She asked. "What did Snow say?"

"She didn't say anything, just his name." He said, defending his wife. "Who is he?"

"Can we talk about this when we get home, please? I can't do this here." She motioned to the town that they were walking though.

"Of course." Charming replied. They were almost back at home and spent the rest of the journey in silence.

As soon as they opened the front door Snow flew towards them from the couch and enveloped them both in a hug, telling them how glad she was that they were both alright after the emotional day that they'd had. _It's only going to get worse,_ Emma thought to herself. She was thankful that Henry was still at school. She had absolutely no desire for Henry to know about what happened to her as a child. Ever.

Emma and Charming both excused themselves so that they could get changed into some warm, dry clothes. Emma walked back downstairs whilst tying her wet hair up in a messy bun. She made her way over to the couch where both of her parents were sitting. Snow had put a plate of chocolate biscuits on the coffee table and Emma took one as she sat down, hoping to delay the inevitable for a few seconds as she ate it.

"Emma, are you sure you're ready to talk about this?" Snow asked, knowing how difficult this would be for her daughter.

"He should know." She replied, although she was really starting to doubt her ability to tell David what had happened.

"Ok, take your time Emma." David said.

"Well, you know I grew up in the foster system." She started. "Eric. He was one of my foster parents. I stayed with him and his wife Alison when I was eight."

Snow noticed her daughter's face turn pale as she realised that she was going to have to tell her father about the abuse that she had had to endure. She couldn't imagine the pain she had gone through and hated that she was having to relive it now.

Suddenly her thoughts returned to her own childhood years as she remembered how her mother would sit and play with her long hair whenever she got upset to calm her down. She stood up and moved around her daughter to sit behind her on the couch and took her hair out of the bun that she'd just put it in. Emma stayed silent but gave Snow a questioning look as she started to comb her fingers through her daughter's tangled blonde hair.

Despite the uncomfortable feelings of dread that Charming was getting at the thought of having to hear a story that he was sure would be painful for all three adults, he smiled at the momentary simplicity of the scene in front of him.

He noticed how Emma seemed to relax slightly and lean in to her mother's touch. It was a moment that he knew his wife had dreamt of for so long and was glad that Emma was finally able to let her act like a mother to her.

Emma took a deep breath and began to describe the events that happened during the months that she had stayed with Eric and Alison. She didn't go into as much detail as she had when she told her mother, but what she did say was clearly enough to make David hate man who had stolen his baby girl's innocence more than he could remember ever hating anyone. He would be willing to admit that he even hated him more than Regina.

Snow had begun crying silently behind her daughter's back as she listened to the heartbreaking tales that she was sharing.

Throughout the whole time Emma was talking, David had stayed silent. He simply had no idea what he could say to make it better for her. He wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter and it was all he could do not to start crying himself.

Noticing his daughter tense slightly after a while, he pulled back from the hug to give her some room. He could tell that Emma was uncomfortable and wanted some time alone with her mother so he excused himself to make a cup of coffee.

Emma gave him a small smile to thank him for giving them some space and turned to face Snow before speaking again.

"I lied to you in the forest." She started. Snow met this statement with a confused look but didn't say anything so Emma continued. "About not knowing how many times."

"Do you want to tell me?" She asked but Emma merely shook her head. Snow understood, figuring that she probably didn't want to know either.

"Do you mind if I go and take a nap?" Emma asked. "I can't... I just can't do this anymore right now."

"That's okay Emma. You should probably go and rest. I love you."

"I love you too." She replied, making Snow's heart jump in her chest, and went upstairs to her bedroom.

Once Emma was upstairs, Charming sat back down on the couch next to his wife.

"I can't believe he did that. I want to kill him." He said in a low voice so as not to disturb his daughter. He didn't have to shout, the hatred and danger in his voice were as clear as day. "How dare he hurt our little girl? She's done nothing to deserve that."

"I know. She's one of the kindest souls I've met."

"She get's that from her mother." David said, pulling his wife closer to him in a hug.

Nothing more needed to be said between the pair of them as they took comfort in each other's company. It had been a difficult day for all of them and Snow could tell that her husband was still furious about what happened to their daughter, she was as well, but nothing could be done about it at that moment. They couldn't exactly leave Storybrooke and there was no way in hell either Snow or David would ever allow him near Emma. All they could do is help her as much as they could and work through their issues as a family.


	3. No One's Left To Stop You Now

**Here's the last chapter! I hope you all like it, I'd love to know your thoughts at the end. Thank you for the amazing response to this story :)**

Following Emma's confession, not much was said between the members of the Charming family. Emma was taking a nap upstairs while David and Snow sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts, while a documentary on woodland creatures played quietly from the television in the background.

Snow was still picturing the moment that Emma was having a nightmare in the Enchanted Forest. The look of pure fear on her daughter's face was permanently etched into her mind and had been haunting her own dreams. She couldn't help but feel that all the pain in her daughter's past could have been avoided if she had made different choices before the curse. All the opportunities she'd had to save Emma had managed to pass her by, whether it was by her fault or the fault of those around her. No matter who was responsible for bringing the curse and separating Snow from her daughter, the young woman still felt like the blame fell entirely on her. What surprised her was how this thought didn't seem to have crossed Emma's mind since the curse broke or, at least if it had, she hadn't mentioned it.

Looking at the clock through her still tear-filled eyes, Snow noticed that it was time to collect Henry from school. Sensing his wife's movement as she began to get up off of the couch, David also checked the time. He volunteered to collect Henry from the bus stop and offered to take him to Granny's diner to give Snow a chance to check up on Emma and let her know that her son would be on his way home.

Once David had left, Snow made her way quietly up the stairs to the loft, hoping not to startle her daughter in her vulnerable state. She inwardly cursed as she reached the stair that always creaked when stood on, wishing that she had thought to skip it, but carried on nonetheless. She knocked gently on Emma's bedroom door. Upon getting no response she pushed the door open and walked over to the bed. It seemed that Emma had sensed her presence as the young blonde opened her eyes to look up at her mother.

"Hi sweetheart." Snow greeted; her voice barely above a whisper. "How are you feeling?"

Emma let out a quiet groan as she started to sit up in her bed.

"Exhausted." Came an equally quiet reply.

Snow moved closer to Emma and wrapped her daughter in a gentle hug, stroking her long hair slowly. It was as if both women were afraid that any sudden movements or loud noises would shatter the safety of the moment.

"You've had a difficult day." Snow said.

"I'm sorry for breaking down like that again."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Emma honey. What you did was very difficult and very brave. No one expects you to be able to be strong all the time, especially not about..." She paused, not quite sure how to continue.

"It's ok to say it, Mare. We both know what happened." Emma replied, trying to reassure her mother that she was ok, when inside she felt like she was falling apart at the seams.

"I can't..." She hesitated, before a fresh wave of tears hit her so strongly that all she could do was grip hold of her daughter even tighter, as if she would never let her go. As long as Emma didn't push her away, Snow didn't think she ever would be able to part from the embrace. Snow could barely handle the thought of what Eric had done to her daughter and, even after hearing the story for a second time, she still couldn't repeat what had happened to her young girl out loud. Somehow she doubted that she ever would.

Emma welcomed her mother's tighter hug, resting her head on her shoulder as Snow continued to run delicate hands through her messy locks.

It wasn't even a year ago that Emma was living on her own in Boston, not allowing anyone to get close to her. In her profession that was a useful trait to have, and one that she had been practicing and perfecting ever since Neal betrayed her. Yet here she was now, trying her hardest not to break down, after telling her deepest and darkest secret to her recently-found parents, and she couldn't help but wonder where her walls had disappeared to. After all those years building the foundations around her delicate heart, one woman – her best friend who had just become her long-lost mother – had been able to break every single one down.

Something inside of Emma was telling her to run, to flee from this situation that was causing her such pain and never look back. Fortunately, an even bigger part of her wanted nothing more than to lean further into her mother's arms and never let go from their strong embrace. This part of her just wanted to be around her family in hope that they would help her survive the impossible few hours, days, and months to follow.

After both women's tears seemed to have subsided, however temporarily, Snow leaned back slightly from the hug to look her daughter in the eyes.

"Your dad has gone to collect Henry from school." She explained. "He's taken him to Granny's and told me to text him when you're ready for him to come back."

"Has he said anything?" Emma asked.

"Of course not. No one is going to tell Henry without your permission, Emma." Snow reassured her. Emma muttered a 'thanks' before lying back down on her bed. "Do you want me to keep him downstairs when he gets back?" She asked.

"No, it's ok. I think I'll go have a shower and I should be ready to come back downstairs and be with you guys." Emma replied, trying her hardest to put on a brave face.

"If that's what you want." Snow smiled. Emma nodded. "Do you want me to get you anything? Hot cocoa? Toast? Ice cream? Chocolate?"

Emma was able to let out a small laugh. "You know all my comfort foods?" She asked.

"Of course I do." Snow replied, a small feeling of pride rushing through her at the thought of knowing something about her daughter's habits that she felt a mother should know. It was little things like that which proved to her that her family were growing closer together and getting to know each other better with each passing day. "I also know that it might be best if I prepare the toast this time. I think my old broken toaster is proof enough that I shouldn't let you near our new one in the future." Emma chuckled again at this, feeling a little bit more relaxed around her mother now that the conversation had turned slightly lighter again.

"How about all of the above? I have a feeling we all just need to eat crap and watch happy films today." Emma replied. "And you should be thanking me for breaking your toaster really." She smirked. Snow raised a questioning eyebrow at her daughter. "Now you have one that cooks four slices of bread at a time rather than that ancient thing you had."

"It's definitely more helpful now that it's not just me living here." She said. "Why don't you go and take your shower and I'll text David and make us some hot cocoa?" Emma nodded and pushed herself off of the bed. While she was starting to feel more relaxed and was talking about normal things with Snow, her body was still drained from the emotional day that she'd had.

After her shower, Emma came downstairs to find the rest of her family looking through their shared DVD collection.

"Mom!" Henry yelled as she came down the stairs. "Are you feeling better now? Grandma said you've been poorly today."

"Yeah, kid, I'm feeling a bit better." She said, managing to show him a genuine smile. "How was school today?"

Henry started to tell his mom all about his day at school and what had happened in all his classes. Snow looked over at her daughter's smiling face and could tell that she was treasuring every little piece of information that Henry was sharing with her. She herself had worn the same look when Emma told her stories about her day or happy memories from her childhood.

Eventually, the Charming family settled on a film to watch and sat on the couch, each with a bowl of ice cream and a mug of hot cocoa with cinnamon, with the exception of David who had made himself a mug of coffee.

After watching the film, Emma told Henry to work on his homework and David left to go to the Sherriff's station and pick up some paperwork. He and Emma both felt guilty that they hadn't managed to get through half as much work as they'd hoped and, despite Snow's protests, agreed that they would try and do a bit from home while Henry was doing homework and Snow was cooking dinner. Everyone agreed that they would go to sleep early that night after the emotional day that all three adults had had.

Henry woke up to the sound of crying coming from his mom's side of the bed. He shook her shoulder slightly and called her name a few times, but the only response that he got was a piercing scream, followed by some quiet whimpers. It was obvious that Emma was still asleep, stuck in some terrible nightmare.

"Grandma!" He yelled from the door to his bedroom, hoping to wake Snow up. He didn't know what to do as his attempts to wake his mother hadn't helped.

"What is it, Henry?" Snow asked as she came running up the stairs in her nightdress, followed by her husband.

"I think she's having a nightmare."

David stepped it, having a good idea what his daughter's nightmare would be about and knowing that she wouldn't want Henry to know about it. "Why don't we go downstairs, kid? Let's leave your grandma up here to help Emma and you can sleep in our bed with me."

"I don't want to leave her." Henry replied, looking over at his sleeping mother who was still making small whimpering noises.

"Henry, I'll look after her." Snow said, in an attempt to reassure her frightened grandson. "You need to get some rest for your math test at school tomorrow." Henry reluctantly agreed and followed David back downstairs, leaving Snow and Emma alone.

Snow walked over to Henry's side of the bed and sat down next to her daughter, stroking her hair gently and whispering comforting words to her.

Emma woke suddenly, a look of panic on her face as she imagined that she was back in her old room at Eric and Alison's house. Looking up to see her mother's worried face, Emma immediately calmed down. She was safe. She was at home with her family. She had nothing to fear; nothing to worry about. These were the words that Emma kept repeating to herself in her head as Snow coached her into calming down and taking deep breaths to stop herself from hyperventilating. After a while she was able to breathe normally once more and turned to face Snow again.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, feeling bad both for waking her mother up in the middle of the night and for her having to see her daughter in that state.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, dear. It's ok. It was just a nightmare, he's not here. You're safe with us."

"Henry..." Emma started with panic in her voice, worried about what her son had witnessed.

"He's fine. He's downstairs with your dad. He woke us up when he saw you were having a nightmare and we figured you wouldn't want him around so it's just me here now."

"Thank you." She said. "I don't want him to know what happened. Ever."

"I understand. You want to protect him from that pain." Emma nodded. "I just wish I could've done the same for you." Snow said; her voice barely a whisper.

"You did what you had to do." Emma replied. "What happened to me wasn't your fault."

"You shouldn't have had to grow up here with those horrible people."

"Not all of them were like that." She assured her mother. "Most of the foster families that I stayed with were lovely."

Snow gave Emma a small smile at this. It wasn't often that the young woman opened up about her childhood, especially not to her mother, but hearing that she had been under the care of nice people helped to ease Snow's guilt slightly. It didn't stop her from feeling jealous that these people had been able to watch her young girl grow up while she was stuck in time in Storybrooke.

"I can't help but blame myself for what he did Emma. You were right about what you said when the curse broke. We could've still been together. You wouldn't have had to grow up alone."

"You did the right thing Mare... Mom." Emma corrected herself. "I'm sorry that I said that. I was still a bit in shock, and I was angry at Gold. I... I didn't mean it."

"You really don't blame me?" Snow asked.

"No I don't. It's taken me a long time but I can't blame you for what he did to me." Emma stated. Snow knew her daughter well, however, as she picked up on the fact that there was more to her answer that she wasn't sharing.

"It wasn't your fault either Emma. You do know that, right?" She asked warily. Emma hesitated and Snow could see in her eyes that she still felt that she could've done something to stop Eric. "You were just a child and he took advantage of you. He hurt you for his own twisted gain and, Emma, you didn't deserve that."

"I wasn't exactly a good child all the time though. He must've done it for a reason." Emma said quietly, as if she was afraid for her mother to hear her. She almost wished she hadn't heard.

"Emma, sweetheart, look at me." Snow asked, placing two fingers gently under her daughter's chin and guiding her to meet her eyes.

The intensity of the emotion that greeted Emma shocked her so much that she was taken aback slightly. She could see that Snow was holding back tears for what her daughter had suffered through but her eyes told so much more of a story than words ever could. The guilt that she had noticed earlier was still very much present in her mother's eyes, but now it was accompanied by something akin to longing - a longing for Emma to understand what she knew to be true. Most prominently though, were sadness for what had happened to the young girl in front of her and the most intense look of love that was only present between a parent and their child, amplified tenfold by all the other feelings being brought to the surface in their emotional situation.

"That..." Snow struggled to find a suitable word. "That monster had no reason to do what he did to you. The thought of what he did makes me sick. But please know that none of it was your fault. You were eight years old! There is no way you could have stopped him. I can't believe that he made you think that it was something you deserved for twenty years. Emma, no one should have to go through what you did. To hurt a child like that – it's unforgivable!"

Emma couldn't help it. She looked away from her mother and broke down into a fresh wave of tears. She could see from her mother's face, her actions, that she was telling the truth and that overwhelmed the young woman. She wasn't used to people acting like this around her, having grown up believing that her parents didn't care enough to keep her, and she didn't know how to react to the strong feelings and words coming from Snow.

"I can't... I can't do this anymore." She whispered through her tears.

Snow rested a hand on Emma's shaking knee. "What do you mean?"

"I can't sit here listening to you saying all of this. It's too much and... I don't know... how to... deal with it." She replied through laboured breaths. Snow stayed silent, giving Emma the opportunity to explain. It took the blonde woman a couple of minutes to calm herself down enough to talk again. "My whole life I've spent closed off to people. As a child I knew that I wouldn't ever stay in the same house for long so I learnt not to let anyone in and in turn no one let me in. When I had just got out of the foster system I met Neal, Henry's dad. I thought that I loved him and he was the first person I really ever let get close to me until he betrayed me and left me in jail. After that I just stopped trusting myself to let the right people in and, in turn, stopped trusting everyone else as well. And now here you are and you're saying all these things and I just don't know anymore what I'm supposed to do." She finished.

"Oh, Emma. I'm so sorry if I've made you uncomfortable. I just wanted you to understand that none of this was your fault and I wanted to show you how much I love you."

"You don't need to apologise, Snow. It's just something that I'm not used to. I don't know how to be a daughter and I don't know how to let people in."

"It's going to be difficult for all of us to adjust." Snow stated. "But we will find a way to help each other through this and come out of it as a family, so long as that's what you want."

Emma reached up a hand to wipe away a couple of stray tears. "More than anything." She replied. "It's all I've wanted my entire life."

Snow smiled at her daughter, happy with the knowledge that she still wanted to be a part of their unconventional family.

"Why don't we try and get some sleep?" She suggested. "My bet is that Henry and David are fast asleep in my bed so I'll stay up here with you for tonight." Emma nodded as she settled back into a comfortable position in the double bed.

"Thank you for staying with me." Emma whispered once they were both comfortable and had turned the light on her nightstand off. "I'm sorry you had to be woken up in the middle of the night."

"It's ok, Emma. I'm your mother and I only want to make sure that you are alright. Everything else in my life comes second to you if you need me. I've told you this before. I'm always going to put you first so you're going to have to get used to it."

Emma allowed a small smile to grace her face before the two women drifted off into what they hoped would be a peaceful sleep.

When Emma awoke the next morning, she was surprised to see light shining through the curtains, meaning that she had been able to sleep through the rest of the night without any more nightmares. Over the years it had become easier for her to forget about what happened but recently, now that everything was out in the open, the nightmares had become more frequent. She could only hope that they would go away soon. She wasn't sure that she could deal with the emotional rollercoaster that she was riding for much longer. It almost made her wish that she still kept herself guarded off from everyone because at least then she had a safety net; a metaphorical emergency stop button that she could press to shut herself off. Right now she was sure that the only thing stopping her from reverting back to the woman that she used to be was her family: her son and her parents. They were all she had ever wanted and, she hoped, all that she needed to get through this.

She looked over her shoulder to the other side of her bed to find that, unsurprisingly, her mom was already up. Emma yawned and stretched her tired muscles before getting out of bed to find her family. Grabbing her robe from the back of the door, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen where Snow and Henry were making pancakes and David was setting plates and glasses out on the table for everyone.

"Morning Emma." He said, looking up to see his daughter walking down the stairs still rubbing her tired eyes.

"Mom!" Henry exclaimed as he left the pan full of pancake mix on the stove and ran over to greet Emma. "We're making pancakes."

"I can see that kid." She laughed at her son's antics. "But it looks more like Snow's making them at the moment." With that, Henry walked back over to the stove where Snow was tending to their breakfast. Emma decided to help her father by setting out the fillings on the table for everyone to use.

"The first one is ready." She announced. "Who wants it?"

Once breakfast was finished, Emma and David set about tidying up the mess that Henry had made while preparing the pancake mix, leaving Snow and Henry to get ready to go to school. David took this opportunity to find out how his daughter was coping, having not really had a chance to talk to her properly since her confession the day before.

"How are you holding up?" He asked.

"I've been better." She admitted, surprising herself with her honesty. "It just seems like all of a sudden it's all I can think about. I'll be ok though. I've got you all to help me through it and Snow's been amazing since I told her."

David rested a soapy hand on Emma's arm as she dried one of the dishes. He gave her a soft smile, which she returned. That was all Emma needed to reassure herself that everything would be alright eventually. She had her family around her and with their help she had the strength that she needed to move on.

"She's always been good at that." David said. "I've never been that great with words but Snow, she always has the right thing to say to make everything seem better."

What neither of them noticed was that Snow had appeared downstairs and heard what her husband was saying. She smiled at his words but didn't say anything, not wanting to interrupt the precious moment between father and daughter.

Quietly, she decided to go back upstairs and check on Henry, making sure that he was ready to leave for school and leaving David and Emma alone again.

The conversation turned more casual as David started telling Emma tales from the Enchanted Forest. He described how excited they both were as they decorated Emma's nursery in the castle and how they both went around finding the perfect place for everything, including the numerous gifts that Snow had been given at her baby shower. Emma was trying to imagine how it had looked when they'd finished with it from her father's descriptions and what she'd seen when she herself was in the Enchanted Forest. It made her happy to think that her parents really had wanted to keep her and watch her grow up, something that she hadn't believed until very recently when the curse broke.

Once the kitchen was clean Emma and David headed upstairs to get ready to go to the Sherriff's station. Emma passed Snow on her way out of the door with Henry and hung back a moment to speak to her daughter.

"Promise me you won't push yourself to hard today Emma. You know your dad will understand if you want to go home at any point."

"I'll be fine." She said, flashing her mom an encouraging smile as she tried to convince both Snow and herself. "Have a good day at work and stop worrying about me." Emma teased. "David will be there with me all day. I'll be alright."

"Ok. Have a lovely day." Snow said before leaving the apartment and following Henry out of their building and down the street. She couldn't help but worry about Emma but tried to push it to the back of her mind. She was dealing with everything really well and Snow could tell that just being around her was helping Emma to face up to her problems and fight off the demons that had haunted her since her childhood. She wasn't alone anymore. With that thought, Snow turned her mind back to her class and what she would teach them at school today.

Emma and David spent the day at the station catching up on paperwork as it was a quiet day. At Emma's request the pair didn't mention the events that had happened yesterday and, after about half an hour of small talk they settled into a comfortable silence, meaning that they were able to finish what they were working on and be completely up to date with paperwork by lunch time. Emma was glad that their day had been able to pass uneventfully, grateful that everything was still happening like normal, well as normal as anything ever was in Storybrooke. It reassured her slightly to know that the world was still the same after yesterday and gave her hope that she would be able to move on from everything.

Later that evening, the Charming family were sitting round the table playing a card game together. Henry had no work to do and Snow had been able to catch up on some marking while her class were sitting their math test, meaning that the whole family were free to spend the evening relaxing and just enjoying finally being around each other. They had ordered a take-away so that no one had to cook and sat around the table playing games for the majority of the evening.

Once the game had been cleared away and Henry declared the winner, 'beginner's luck' according to Emma and David, who had secretly been going easy on the young boy as it made them happy to see how excited he got over winning, they sat down and turned on the television. As they were sitting around watching some talent contest, Emma leaned her head on Snow's shoulder.

"Thank you for everything, mom." She whispered. "I don't know how I would've got through everything without you."

Snow smiled and placed a kiss on her daughter's hair. "You don't need to thank me, Emma. I'm just glad you're ok."

"I know it wasn't my fault." Emma said quietly and Snow enveloped her in a hug as both women tried to hold back a few tears. David looked over at them and smiled, while Henry's eyes were focused ahead on the dancing dog act that was being shown. "I love you mom."

"I love you too Emma." Snow replied.

**The End.**


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